Next White Paper protest set for May 1: organiser

SINGAPORE - FEBRUARY 16: People in Singaporean scarves as they sing the National Anthem during the protest against the government's White Paper on Population at Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park on February 16, 2013 in Singapore.

Event organiser Gilbert Goh of transitioning.org told Yahoo! Singapore on Tuesday that he has successfully applied for a Speakers’ Corner permit on Wednesday 1st May, which falls on Labour Day, a public holiday.

The event is being staged as a follow-up to the initial White Paper protest held on February 16, which was also organized by transitioning.org, a support site for the unemployed. On that day, almost 4,000 people braved the rain to listen to a panel of speakers address concerns over the White Paper on Population.

This time, Goh said the May 1st event will again focus on the “6.9 million population figure and other matters”.

“The ‘6.9 million’ figure still bothers a lot of Singaporeans,” said Goh in a phone interview.

“There is still a lack of priority given to local workers, who have to struggle with foreign talent for jobs.”

Human rights lawyer M Ravi, Leong Sze Hian and Nizam Ismail are among the confirmed speakers on the day. Transitioning.org is also in the process of “gathering more civic societies to come on board.”

A statement from Goh read: “We hope that Singaporeans who are passionate about the issues that affect their everyday living will come out again in full force... They don’t have to complain behind their keyboards or wait for election rallies every five years, to gather peacefully as a united force against policies that they dislike.”